Parents & Youth
Skilled trades careers are intellectually and physically stimulating STEAM careers with innovative technology, high safety standards, and the potential for six figure salaries. It is simply not true that working with your hands is a, “dirty, second choice career path with low pay and no opportunities to progress.”
Pathways for all students
Apprenticeship can be the first step towards a career of opportunities. A college or university degree does not guarantee personal, professional or financial success. It is time to reconsider what a “good job” and “choice worthy” work looks like.
Apprenticeship Career Paths Are Critical for Young People
Matt believes secondary education systems should restore apprenticeships as school-endorsed paths to career and life success.
The Skills Ontario Trades & Tech Talk Podcast
Listen in as an 18 year old Ontario student shares his personal, financial, and academic success due to his high school apprenticeship (Spoiler: His experience allowed him to graduate grade 12 on the Honor Roll, working in a career he loves, with college credit and zero debt).
The Runaway Train of the Skilled Trades Crisis: Why it is time to address our incorrect assumptions surrounding craft work
What is apprenticeship?
A Guide for Educators (PDF)
A Guide for Educators is an excellent resource for parents, students and educators looking to learn more about apprenticeship and careers in the skilled trades.
Overview of Apprenticeship
Pathways to apprenticeship
More resources
for parents & youth
It can be a challenge to keep up with the innovation and employment trends in the workplace. Did you know RBC has determined 700 000 skilled trades people will retire in Canada by 2028? Our country urgently needs clever, capable, critically thinking individuals with STEAM skills to fill these positions. Use this document as a tool to begin a family conversation and dispel myths about working with your hands.
This free Canadian on-line course is designed to prepare students for the technical, financial, and business skills needed to begin a career in the skilled trades. Did you know individuals who pursue a skilled trade are often very entrepreneurial?
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
You can receive monthly updates on skilled trades news, events and more!
